Touré gives Arsenal sliver of hope

Kolo Touré's late goal has given Arsenal hope where there seemed none but Arsène Wenger's team remain not just down but in serious danger of going out. Defensive and goalkeeping frailties have dogged them all season and were brutally exposed by Bayern Munich last night. The English champions face an uphill task to avoid yet another disappointingly early European exit but at least they have a lifeline now.

They will have to produce far better at Highbury. It always seemed unlikely that a team too vulnerable to head their own league would thrive in Europe and two mistakes by Touré and another by Jens Lehmann, to the delight of Bayern fans and doubtless his arch-rival and opposite number Oliver Kahn, have left Arsenal on the brink.

This was a depressing Arsenal display in every respect, given an undeserved gloss when Touré scored in the 89th minute. The defender owed his team after his errors and the potential significance of that goal will be lost on neither side. It means a 2-0 victory for Arsenal at Highbury two weeks from today will suffice.

Yet there was nothing here to suggest that Arsenal will keep the clean sheet that will be vital. Wenger said Sol Campbell may well not be over his ankle injury for the return and never has the need for the manager to strengthen at the back been more obvious.

This defeat could have been heavier against an unexceptional Bayern team . The home side were ahead within three minutes after Touré made an elementary blunder and Arsenal showed so few attacking ideas and urgency until half-time, despite dominating possession, that they rarely looked like getting back into the game. Their goal was only their second effort on target.

Arsenal were fortunate at 3-0 that Torsten Frings missed an excellent chance and Lauren was shown only a yellow card for a bad challenge on Bixente Lizarazu. Another slice of good news is that Dennis Bergkamp will be available for the return. Wenger's use of Freddie Ljungberg alongside Thierry Henry was a failure and there was little thrust or invention to his team's play going forward.

Henry was a largely peripheral figure, not helped by an appalling lack of service, José Antonio Reyes barely delivered a decent final pass and Robert Pires also achieved little. Arsenal's success is often helped by the speed of their passing and movement and the ability of their wide men to get into goalscoring positions but none of that was evident here.

After their early goal Bayern were happy to sit back and soak up the best their opponents could offer and Arsenal never seriously looked like breaking them down. Bayern's reluctance to come forward in the first half seemed strange but they clearly knew that chances would come.

Arsenal's problems had been obvious sooner than they would have liked. Less than three minutes had gone when a basic defensive mistake enabled Bayern to the lead. A long punt by Kahn ought to have been harmless but Touré miscued his header under no real pressure and Claudio Pizarro sent a left-foot shot past Lehmann.

Arsenal's attempts to get back into the game were coming to nothing against opponents happy to strike on the break. Apart from a dangerous Henry cross that nobody got a touch to and a shot by Gaël Clichy that was deflected wide, Arsenal had nothing to show. They were not helped by the loss of Edu to injury.

Briefly there were signs of greater urgency at the start of the second half but soon Bayern exposed them at the back. Only a good Lehmann save prevented Roy Makaay from scoring and then Hasan Salihamidzic sent a header into the side netting from a corner.

The warning to tighten up on set pieces was not heeded. Mehmet Scholl, with his first touch after coming on, sent over a free-kick and Touré lost Pizarro to enable the striker to head past Lehmann.

Worse was to follow, as Torsten Frings skipped past Pascal Cygan and sent over a cross that Lehmann, at full stretch, only diverted into the path of Salihamidzic. The keeper ought to have done better and the Bosnian drove the ball into an empty net.

Frings wasted a chance to make it four and after Touré drove in, Patrick Vieira having hit a post, Arsenal at least have a chance - but only if they play far better than this.